"The publication of these names sends a clear signal that cheating on tax is wrong and reassures people who pay their taxes - the vast majority - that there are consequences for those who refuse to tell HMRC about their full liability," said Treasury Minister David Gauke.

"It also encourages defaulters to make a full and prompt disclosure and cooperate with HMRC to avoid being named."

When added together, the tax owed amounted to less than £1m.

When asked why no large corporations appeared on the list, Mr Gauke said that HMRC was taking action to close legal loopholes, and those who promoted aggressive tax avoidance schemes were also being exposed.

A recent Commons public accounts committee report called for HMRC to publicly list promoters of tax avoidance schemes and those who used them.

Crackdown

Under the new plan, called the Managing Deliberate Defaulters (MDD) scheme, anyone who evades tax will also have their financial affairs watched closely for up to five years to make sure they do not re-offend.

The crackdown was aimed at deterring would-be tax evaders

It started with letters being sent to 900 known tax dodgers warning them they will stay in the Revenue's sights for up to the next five years.

HMRC has said the programme was as much about deterring would-be tax evaders as punishing those who had already been found out.

Other measures include:

making announced or surprise inspections of books and records

asking for additional information or documents to be sent in with the person's tax returns

carrying out in-depth compliance checks into all or any part of the person's tax affairs

observing and recording the person's business activities and cross-checking details in their accounts